Centre Pushes AgriStack Rollout, Sets Kharif 2026 Deadline for Digital Agriculture

The workshop concluded with an open-house discussion, allowing States to flag implementation issues and explore collaborative solutions.

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare on Wednesday organised a National Workshop on “AgriStack & AI in Agriculture: Now, Next & Beyond” in New Delhi, signalling a decisive shift from policy vision to time-bound implementation of India’s digital agriculture framework.

Held at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan as a follow-up to the 5th Conference of Chief Secretaries, the workshop focused on converting national-level consensus into actionable steps to build a smart, data-driven and farmer-centric agricultural ecosystem, with AgriStack as its core Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

Kharif 2026 targets set

Deliberations centred on key action points agreed at the Chief Secretaries’ Conference (26–28 December 2025), including:

• Saturation coverage of Farmers’ IDs, geo-referencing of agricultural land and completion of Digital Crop Surveys in all districts by Kharif 2026

• Dynamic updating of the Farmer Registry with changes in land Records of Rights (RoR)

• Creation of dedicated institutional structures such as AgriStack Commissionerates/Directorates with Project Management Units for long-term sustainability

• Full integration of AgriStack across schemes and services—DBT, inputs, credit, insurance, storage and procurement

• Positioning AgriStack as the digital backbone for farmer-centric governance

AgriStack as foundational digital infrastructure

Setting the context, Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi, Union Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, described AgriStack as a foundational, federated and interoperable platform essential for improving targeting, transparency and efficiency in service delivery. He stressed that strong Centre–State coordination will be critical to meeting saturation and integration timelines.

Senior remarks were also delivered by Ashish Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, and K.V. Shaji, Chairman, NABARD, who highlighted the importance of cross-sectoral convergence to unlock AgriStack’s full potential for farmers.

States at the heart of execution

An implementation roadmap was presented by Dr. Pramod Kumar Meherda, Additional Secretary (Digital Agriculture), who underlined that AI-driven solutions can deliver impact only when backed by complete, current and trusted farmer and land datasets. The focus, he said, must be on institutionalisation, data quality and scalability.

Shri Rajiv Chawla, Chief Knowledge Officer and Advisor, MoA&FW, flagged last-mile challenges and the need for administrative reforms, operational readiness and governance changes to embed AgriStack into routine State processes.

On-ground use cases showcased

A dedicated session highlighted real-world applications already emerging at State level, including:

• Targeted MSP-based procurement

• Smart fertiliser supply-chain governance

• Digitally enabled disaster relief

• Efficient Direct Benefit Transfers using AgriStack

State presentations helped identify best practices and replicable models for nationwide adoption.

Way forward

The workshop concluded with an open-house discussion, allowing States to flag implementation issues and explore collaborative solutions. Delivering the vote of thanks, Shri Ravi Ranjan Singh, Director (Digital Agriculture), reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to handholding States in implementing agreed action points.

The workshop marked a clear push to make AgriStack the digital backbone of Indian agriculture, aligning technology, governance and AI to deliver inclusive, efficient and farmer-first outcomes.